Sound-producing toy



March 2, 1948. J. P. GOWLAND 2,436,886

SOUND PRODUC ING TOY Filed Nov. 7, 1945 'IN VEN TOR.

Jolq n PLnckneyGou/Zemd ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 2 1948 i at;

Br a

2 Claims.

This invention relates to toys intended-to. be drawn 'or proplled dn the floor; ground or other running surface, Whichar adapted 'to produce sound when'in motion.' ithe invention maybe embodiedin toys of the self-propelled type driven, for. example-bya. "clockwork 'r'notorj as well as in toys of. the type which aredrawnior ushed! by. hand. The toys' maybe provided wi-th runningwheels rol-lers-or the like', or may have slide runners. oi: otherwise The. adapted to slide on the runningsurface.

In. a ."toy accordingto theinvention, .asimulacrum of any desired characterf'such as oi an animal-, bird, -"ins ctoi "other" "flgu'r,- vehicle or craft;'eb iceais asoaneproduc ng devieeai tiie weu kncwn eoncerunatype'empwying awe'i'ghte'd bellows; which-is mtatabi -meunted so a s' tape repeatedly inverted as it rotatesj'thus causing th bellb'ws"alternately"to expand and collapse and thereby periodicailyeliiitsoun d, means bein provided to 'diive'saia'hvie'as the toy is moved. I The. sound vprod'ucin'g device is suitably designed to produce sound appropriate to the simulacrum. 714F151 desirable that. the sound producing dent-e persist-seatsinvested, and for this .p llfi ose the drive thereto may be enactedtl'ifdugh ieduction gear. I-f-the tag; has afii otor, fi' SoTl d-Dibducing device may be drivefitheriiidmnf Alternatively, whether the 'toy has" a inotor or not, the sound producing device may be driven from the rotation of a wheel or Wheels or the. like (or the axle thereof) of the toy as it moves on the running surface. In a further alternative, which is especially suitable for motorless toys with free running wheels, nollers or the like, the sound producin device may be driven from a Wheel or roller which contacts with the running surface and operates the drive independently of the running wheels or the like of the toy, and such driving wheel or roller may have a. floating mounting so as to ensure that it maintains contact with the running surface.

Inorder that the invention may be more fully understood and readily carried into practice, an embodiment thereof will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in v which Fig. 1 is a side view of one form of sound:

simulacrum ID of any desired character, such as (Cl. iii-'99) an animal, is made as a hollow figure and mount ed' on Baseboard 'l i 1 which "is 'adap't'edtdige drawn 6r pushdaldngthe eengreune'or ot er runnin surfac "for which *puip s the"; base board" "H may be providediwithsl'de'run rs 6r,

as 'sh'own, with" adset'oi which may conveniently befo ur in nurnb er. The sdundgprbquem g' iqrf voice? device 13; is of a conventional concertina" type employing weighted bellows I39. and having reeds s" as l3b' cotipratirig with ol'ific s'siicli as 'l'3'c'in an. eneo'r tileuev ee toiiro mce 'souiidwh'enthe t ji lows is collapsed; The 'dev'ieeisis ta rotatable M s6fthat1'a's th"latter' M 1 the voice device "I 3' 'lik'ewi's el is rotated and" ref p'ea-tedly inver'ted'as 'itrot'ates so "as to'haufs'e the bellows *toriitern teiy expand" and chan e therebyperiodfic'ally emitsoun'd; The veice "deg vice 13 may be mount d on "the I one M by being locatedin a cut 'out slot; l5 in"th' disc and held in'position therein" by'a paiFof clips or'st Hi, the at each side'b'f-the disc 1 am embrac-f ingthe periphery Of the bellows'device aha cured to the disc [4 as by neansdfscrews l'i Theclipslii' are each prbvide'dc-with an a projecting pinlfl, the two pins" forming st by whiclf'the assembiy omprisirigtne d GT4 and voiceidevice 13 is "rotatably mounted be; tween a pair of brackets 'I'S; e." gl',"of' hiet'alstri'p upstanding from the base board II, the brackets having vertically elongated bearing slots 26 which receive the axle pins l8. The disc l4 protrudes through a slot 2| in the base board H and rests with its periphery n a small intermediate wheel or roller 22 which is fast to and coaxial with a small driving wheel or roller 23 which is adapted to contact and roll along the ground or other running surface as the toy is moved on its wheels I2 along such surface. The roller and disc arrangement I l, 22 and 23, provides a reduction gear drive whereby rotation of the driving wheel or roller 23 imparts a slow-motion rotational drive to disc I 4 carrying the fvoice device I3. The common axle 24 of the driving roller 23 and intermediate roller 22 is supported in vertical elongated slots 25in a pair of spaced brackets "26 depending from the underside of the base board H. As shown in Fig. 3 the brackets l9 and 26 may be structurally combined and formed by two pieces of metal strip suitably bent as shown and securedi'e. g.,' by screws 21 to the base hoard II, each strip having a part upstanding from the base board to'form one bracket .l,9 part depending from the underside of'th ase board to form abracket ch -By virtue'm 3114a elongated axle slots 20 and 25 in the brackets, the whole drive arrangement comprising rollers 23, 22 and disc l4 carrying the voice device Hi can ride up and down 101' vertically float in the axle slots so as to follow any irregularity of contour of the surface over which roller 23 may run, andthe weight of the disc l4 carrying the voice device l3 maintains the disc in a frictional driving engagement with the intermediate roller 22 and. maintains the driving roller 23 in contact with the running surface. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the chosen hollow figure I is secured to the base board ll so as to cover and conceal the sound-producing mechanism on the top of the base board. v

The parts of the described toy may be mad as desired in one or more of a variety-of materials. For example, the toy made maybe chiefly constructed of wood; the base board ll, running wheels [2, disc 13 and drive rollers 22, 23 may be made of this material. The drive parts 23, 22, I4 may have all or some of their peripheries covered with rubber or other suitable friction material-to reduce slip. Metal or plastic substances may also be employed as well as difierent materials for different parts of the toy. The hollow simulacrum I0 may be made of wood or pressed metal or it may be moulded in a plastic or other suitable material, such as moulded pulp, fibre or plaster.

Although one particular form of construction has been described and illustrated, this has been given merely illustratively since the invention is susceptible of wide variation in constructional detail and form as will be evident to those skilled in the art. As will be evident, for example, it may be suitable in some cases to dispense with the reduction gear driving disc [4 and to arrange for that disc to be rotated by directv contact with the running surface, or to arrange for that disc to be driven from one of the running wheels I2 of the toy. It will also be evident that the toy may be assembled and constructed in other ways than that described andillustrated; for instance, it may be constructed without a base board and the hollow simulacrum may itself support the sound-producing device and drive mechanism. While the described embodiment shows a toy to be pulled or pushed on a running surface,

the toy may alternatively be fitted with a conventional clockwork motor and drive as well as with the sound-producing mechanism described which, in that case, may operate as described by obtaining its drive from the roller 23 in contact with the running surface or, alternatively, may be power driven from the motor of the toy.

I claim:

1. A toy comprising a base board fitted with running wheels and having an aperture therein, a pair of spaced bearing brackets fixed to said base and upstanding from the upper side thereof adjacent said aperture, a disc overlying and protruding into said aperture and disposed between said' brackets and rotatably supported thereby, said disc having a slot therein, a sound-producing device oflcon'certina type including a weighted bellows located in said slot and secured to said disc so as to be repeatedly inverted as said disc rotates thus causing the bellows alternately to expand and collapse and thereby periodically emit sound a pair of. spaced bearing brackets secured to said base and depending from the underside thereof adjacent said aperture, drive gear between and supported bysaid depending brackets in driving connection with the portion of said disc protruding through saidaperture for rotating the same. saiddrive gear including a wheel member support said disc and drive means with'a degree of vertical float.

JOHN PINKNEY GOWLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordinthe file of this'patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 740,817 Davis Oct. 6, 1903 1,449,601 Haskell Mar. 27, 1923 1,643,918 Becker Sept. 27, 1927 

